Biden-Netanyahu discuss Israel-Saudia ties normalization. US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured on Wednesday to collaborate on a historic agreement to establish diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Meeting for the first time since Netanyahu’s return to office in December, both leaders expressed a wish to lessen tensions in their relationship, but Biden also stated that he was determined to tackle their differences.
These included Biden’s objection to Netanyahu’s far-right government’s contentious judicial makeover agenda, as well as his concern about Israel’s hardline stance towards Palestinians.
“I hope we can get some things settled today,” Biden said at the start of the talks sitting side-by-side with Netanyahu in a New York hotel ballroom.
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Instead of meeting at the White House, which Netanyahu preferred, the two leaders agreed to meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The judicial overhaul was expected to come up in their discussions, with Biden likely to restate his appeal for Netanyahu to alter course, as well as attempts to thwart Iran’s nuclear programme.
As Biden-Netanyahu discuss Israel-Saudia ties normalization, Biden reaffirmed his commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, as well as his support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem.
The main issue on the agenda, however, was a US-led push to establish diplomatic relations between longtime foes Israel and Saudi Arabia, the centrepiece of broader complex negotiations involving US security guarantees and civilian nuclear assistance sought by Riyadh, as well as Israeli concessions to the Palestinians.
“I think that under your leadership, Mr President, we can forge a historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia,” Netanyahu said, adding that “such a peace would go a long way first to advance the end of the Arab-Israeli conflict, achieve reconciliation between the Islamic world and the Jewish state and advance a genuine peace between Israel and the Palestinians.”
Netanyahu said they could work together to make history.
“Together,” Biden repeated, signalling his commitment to the normalization effort, which he said would have been unthinkable years ago.
Outside the hotel at an anti-Netanyahu protest, Offir Gutelzon of UnXeptable, an anti-judicial overhaul movement, thanked Biden for supporting Israeli democracy. “And we are here to thank you, President Biden, for standing with the People in Israel who want to preserve democracy,” Gutelzon said.
